Yesterday’s Gallery entry over at The Blog Up North featured a great photo of Garry, aka @himupnorth taken many a year ago with a little monkey. Reading through the comments it was evident that this was quite commonplace when we of a certain age were children. Take your kids to the seaside and be conned into paying money to have your darling child photographed with a primate. Very PG Tips.
I told Garry I had a monkey photo too and would hunt it out so all you youngsters could look on amazed at the un-PC activities of the 1970s.
So here it is. My brother and I in Blackpool around 1969, photographed with monkeys dressed in fetching woollen ensembles. My brother, Stephen, seems to be sporting some pretty cool headgear purchased from a souvenir shop on the sea front.
Happy Days!
I love this picture!
There was a real 'lets get up close to the animals' vibe going on then…..over at mine I have posted a picture of my uncle ….. as they say in cards 'see your monkey and raise you a parrot'!!
Just been over to look at your monkey and parrot photo – it's just brilliant.
I've got on eof them of me and my brother. I've got a monkey and he's got a parrot. I'm sobbing my socks off, horrid scratchy little thing it was !
What scares me most is that when I was a boy I had a pair of sandals very like the ones you are wearing in this photo.
I thought they were toys at first! Cute yet slightly disturbing! x
Kelloggsville – try and find the photo: it would be great to see it.
Steve – the red shoes of mine?? Sounds lovely, Steve!!
Make do Mum – I know, very surreal and a bit creepy.
Oh yes, we had one of those pics taken. Love the little woollen suits. I tried knitting those for my teddies. Got my granny to do it in the end as I was rather hopeless. She did me some natty little Aran tank-tops and trousers for my Tom cat.
Your cat had tank-tops and trousers? I bet he thought he was the cat's whiskers!!
Oh, wow – I'm not even sure what to say!! Totally cute, though very disturbing 🙂
ooh so adorable! and creepy!
Oh I love everything about this photo! Especially your shoes. Look at their little knitted jumpers! (I was monkey obsessed as a child).
I remember those monkeys so, so well although I never got to have my photo taken with one. My friend tells a funny story about how she had an entire conversation with her Mum at cross purposes. As the photo was taken, she kept asking 'Is it going to be ours to take home' and her Mum, thinking she meant the photo and not the monkey, kept reassuring her 'Yes – we can keep it. It will be ours to take home, yes.' And she was so disappointed when she realised it was just the photo.
I want one!
That's just scary. I's a real snapshot of the day tho' – but it's ooohhhhh monkeys in jumpers and no teabags – scary….
Deer Baby – I do wonder at the state of those monkeys; my brother seems to have found a way to hold his without actually touching it with his bare hands! So if it makes you feel better they were probably flea-ridden, not good for taking home with you!
MSG – it really does convey a lot about the late 60s/70s in one photo – the clothes, shoes and the penchant for posing with animals dressed in knitted jumpers!